The Changing Times
by Distance
Summary: A collection of one-shots meant to set up some bits of Time of Separation. R/R [Part 2 of ?? up]
1. Index

A/N: This a just a little index I'm setting up for "The Changing Times." Since it's a collection of one-shots, if you don't want to read all of them, you can just come here for descriptions.

**1. Index** (duh)

**2. What It Takes** – A late night conversation with Vincent leaves Tifa to wonder what truly makes a monster

**3. Sympathy for Demon** – While on the night watch, Tifa runs into Vincent. An odd warning leaves her worried.


	2. What it Takes

A/N: This is the first installment of my "Changing Times" collection, a companion fic for "Times of Separation." It's a collection of one-shots to serve as background for some of the character interaction in TOS. Read along with TOS, read this on its own, read it as an Epilog, whatever.

**What it Takes**

The cold wind bit the pale skin of his face bitterly. Sleep was something not meant of Vincent Valentine. His cold, empty eyes took in the sights of the Forgotten Capital. This place was just a legend when he was a Turk. Now he was seeing it, but he didn't deserve it.

The blood red eyes of a demon should never taint such a holy place with their presence. He shouldn't taint a group of such righteous fighters like AVALANCHE with his presence. He shouldn't taint Aeris by him being here.

This was her time to shine. Holy was her spell. This world was hers to save. She is the only one who can do it. She's the only Cetra left. Cetra's were not meant to travel with demons. The Cetra's natural enemies were the demons. Now a demon is protecting the sole surviving Cetra. 

That certainly wasn't right. It wasn't right that his Peacemaker wasn't loaded either, but he couldn't leave them in their time of need.

Tifa woke with a start. Another nightmare. They had been coming to her more and more frequently over the past few weeks. This one wasn't any more terrifying than the rest, but she woke with a bad feeling. Something terrible was going to happen tonight.

Tifa's feet unconsciously carried her out of her room and onto the streets of the City of the Ancients. A cool breeze brought a smile to her face, but a cold man took it right back from her. She just stood back and watched Vincent, who was sitting along the edge off one of the paths over the large cavern in the center of the city.

His prosthetic arm hung limply at his side, while his human arm wielded one of his guns. He twirled his Peacemaker from is hip holster into his hand. His arm locked suddenly and gripped the gun tighter. Then, presumable, he mentally fired at his target. He repeated the process over and over again, with inhuman speed. Each time, his target would change. This didn't startle Tifa; she had seen him doing this kind of thing before. It was nothing more than a quiet man calmly practicing his aim in the still of the night. 

It wasn't necessarily his actions that had shocked Tifa to the core of her being, but it was what his actions occasionally targeted: himself. Every so often, the Peacemaker would twirl around his nimble fingers until it found it's barrel pressed against Vincent's temple.

After seeing his aim fall upon himself three more times, Tifa finally shook herself from her spot and intervened. "Vincent, what are you doing?"

"…"

"Vincent?"

"…" Another moment of silence was her answer. Tifa certainly wasn't satisfied, but she knew not to push the man too hard. If he wanted to speak, in time, he would. "I am thinking…"

"About?"

Another long silence stretched between the two. What was she doing out there anyway? Tifa knew that she could never really understand what was going on in Vincent's mind, and consequently could never help him. But it didn't hurt to try, right?

"I do not belong here…"

If Vincent had been looking at her face, he would have seen the confusion in her eyes. And, even though he wasn't, he could sense it around her. "I do not belong in a holy place like this. This is a city for a lost race that saved this world once…" 

As he paused, Vincent's eyes wandered down to the Peacemaker still clutched in his human hand. Before speaking again, his eyes shifted over to his metallic claw. "Humans are the descendants of the Cetra. They belong here, where their ancestors thrived. I am the descendant… no, the embodiment of Chaos. I should not be here."

Tifa wasn't exactly shocked that Vincent was opening up to her. It wasn't the first time she couldn't sleep and stumbled upon her dark friend. Usually, something was bothering her, and Vincent was the best listener she could ask for. Rarely was she graced by the presence of his deeper thoughts, but it happened occasionally nonetheless.

"Vincent, now none of us are descendants of anyone. We're all just lost and confused people. We're all lost and confused friends of Aeris. She needs us now Vincent, and that why all of us, including you, should be here."

Tifa was a bit proud of herself – that had come out a lot better than she thought it would, seeing how she was speaking only from what was in her heart. Maybe she should do that more often. But, as she expected, Vincent wasn't impressed. "I am a friend of no one…"

With that said, he walked back to his room, gun re-holstered, without looking back at her. Tifa let out a sigh of defeat. "Oh well," she said aloud. _Chaos – a monster.__ He honestly thinks he is a monster. But am I really so different than him._

Then, the question came to her. What did it take to be a monster? Vincent thought he was a monster for other things, not because of Chaos. _I've killed before. Am I really so different?_

A/N: Yeah I had a little trouble with FF.net. This is the re-written version of the original. I hope I made it pretty much the same.


	3. Sympathy for a Demon

Disclaimer: Square owns FFVII

A/N: This is my second one-shot for the Changing Times, a collection of one shots setting up some events/relationships in Times of Separation. The time frame is kind of sketchy because it doesn't really matter when it happens. Just know that it's in-game and it's not that long after Sephy offed Aeris. Anyway, I'll keep it by itself for a week or two, then through it in with the other one. Oh, and please review!

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Sympathy for a Demon

A guttural roar tore through the air as pain tore through every inch of his body. Pain seared his skin. His lungs felt as if they were filled with blood. He choked on the oxygen as it reached his pain filled throat. God how he wished he could bleed right now. As a release, as some sort of sign of his suffering, as a signal to tell him that he was indeed still alive, as _anything_.

A guttural roar tore through the air as worry ran through every inch of her body. She watched from a distance as her friend suffered, as she did many nights. That's right, her _friend_. He had a hard time believing that he had any of those, but he had plenty.

Well, he had one less now. Only a couple weeks ago, he had a beautiful, brown-haired, green-eyed Cetra as a friend, but now she was gone. Aeris was gone and there was nothing any of them could do about it - including Cloud. Poor, disillusioned Cloud. He still couldn't let go. He could never come to grips with the fact that his story-book ending to this whole mess would never come true. But, it's only been a few weeks, right? _Maybe I just need to give him more time..._

Tifa was brought out of her mental tangent by a fast approaching figure. His ebony hair waved with the wind, trailing behind his gracefully swift body. She turned to greet him with a smile, but was met with an icy glare from those, cold, indifferent, yet burning red eyes. Sometimes she still mentally jumped at their sight.

"Why are you here?" Like his eyes, his voice was cold and uncaring as he questioned her.

"It's my night to keep watch, Vincent. I have to be out here."

"I believe you are meant to watch out for enemies, not me." With his short statement finished, Vincent quickly began to finish his trip back to the inn. He knew what she had seen and he was not pleased with it. He really would rather keep such events private.

"Why do you deal with... _that _the way that you do?" The innocence in Tifa's voice did nothing to dull the shock it dealt. Up until now, no one had ever bothered to question Chaos, or how Vincent "dealt" with the demon. Every night Vincent would breathe a sigh of relief that no one had. No such sigh would escape his lips tonight.

He turned, giving Tifa his attention. She took this as a sign to continue. "I mean, you try so hard to keep it in during battle. Why do you willfully let it out when you're all alone? I guess I just don't see the logic."

Vincent's features remained impassive despite his flustered insides. "You should know that I am not in full control of Chaos. I do not wish to run the risk of injuring anyone."

Tifa sighed. As her eyes fell to the ground at Vincent's feet, her mind searched for words to use. She had to phrase this delicately, knowing it was a touchy subject for the quiet man. _Why do I have to be so damned curious anyway..._

After a few moments of silence, Vincent was ready to again head back inside, until Tifa broke her silence. "I guess I'm trying to say that, if you can hold it in, why do you let it out at all?"

_Why do I let it out?_ Vincent search for a way to verbalize what he felt without frightening her to no ends.. How could he tell her that Chaos was such a vital part of his life? How could he tell her that something inside of him still pushed him towards letting the beast loose? How could he tell her that Vincent, the Turk, wasn't necessarily dead yet?

"It is something you should hope to never understand. Understanding leads to sympathy. Sympathizing with the Devil makes you no better than he."

Tifa's heart sunk. It always did when she heard him say things like that. Being around Vincent for more than a day would make it plain to see that he was his own proverbial devil. "I don't know why you insist on talking about yourself like that. It isn't... right. And above all, it isn't true."

"To deny what I am would be to ignore the facts that stare me in the face. Ignorance may be bliss, but undeserved bliss is sinful. I don't need any more sins added to my list."


End file.
